EGP 176 billion represent total investments for the housing, water, and wastewater services sector: Planning Minister
25 April 2021
Hala El-Said, Minister of Planning and Economic Development, reviewed the 21/2022 plan for the housing and water and sanitation services, agriculture, water resources and irrigation sectors, and industry.
This came during her presentation of the draft statement of the sustainable development plan for the fiscal year 21/2022; The fourth year of the medium-term plan (18/2019 - 21/2022) today in front of the Parliament headed by Dr. Hanafi Jabali, Speaker.
El-Said said that for the housing sector and the services of water and sanitation, the plan of investments include about EGP 176 billion for the implementation of several initiatives and projects, of which EGP 50 billion for construction, and about EGP 21 billion for water projects, (an increase of 67%) and about EGP 105 billion for sanitation projects (an increase of 260%).
El-Said added that it has been allocated about EGP 121 billion to the Ministry of Housing, Utilities, and Urban Communities, pointing out that the proposed project plan includes the provision of approximately 390,000 housing units within the national housing project.
The plan provides 65,000 pieces of land in the new cities, it also develops 3,900 acres of non-planned areas; it includes 273,000 residential units, with about 1.36 million citizens benefiting from them.
In addition to extending the lengths of drinking water networks by about 250 km, and increase the capacity of water projects by about 853,000 cubic meters/day through the implementation of 50 water projects to increase the coverage rate of drinking water by about 99% on the overall level of Egypt, as well as adding 495 km of existing networks, and increasing the capacity of sanitation projects by about 3.2 million cubic meters/day through the implementation of 36 projects for sanitation.
El-Said continued that the target is to develop sewage networks in villages, through the implementation of about 440 projects in the villages, and the extension of the networks by about 1750 km, thus raising the coverage rate to about 68% at the level of Egypt.
Concerning the agriculture sector, El-Said explained that the economic plan 21/2022 attaches great importance to the development of this sector.
El-Said pointed out that the horizontal expansion programs aim to add about 135,000 feddans in the 21/2022 plan, in addition to 150, 000 feddans in the area of the Dahlia Future Project. Likewise, it is expected to increase the crop area to reach 17.5 million feddans, while improving the productivity of the main crops, such as sugar and sugar beans, and reeds.
ElSaid indicated the plan draws intense interest in contract farming as a system of marketing effective for the crops of several systems, such as wheat, sugar beet, potatoes, and citrus, as well as the protected farming system, where it is expanding the target in the establishment of agricultural greenhouses in the framework of the national project to create 100,000 Green House, adding 20,000 Green House during the year 20/21/2022.
On the water resources and irrigation sector; El-Said pointed out that the government's investment sector, amounting to about EGP 21 billion, a growth rate of 158%, aimed at implementing some priority projects, especially the rehabilitation project and lining the canals and the target completion of the first phase lengths of 7,000 kilometers by the end of the plan.
El-Said highlighted that the development of the industry strategy focused on deepening local manufacturing expansion in many productions of intermediate inputs, and linkage with international supply chains, and the establishment of a wide range of projects in the framework of the replacement of imports strategy, in specific sectors, giving priority to pharmaceutical industries, food, and engineering.